India and fuel economy standards. Currently, India measures fuel economy for two-, three- and four-wheeled vehicles with GVW up to 3.5 tonnes (7,718 lbs) on the basis of the driving cycle used for emission testing, as per the carbon balance method during emission testing.

For passenger cars, the modified Indian Driving Cycle is a lower speed variant of the New European Driving Cycle—a maximum speed of 90 km/h (56 mph) instead of 120 km/h (75 mph)—to reflect the lower maximum speed practicable in India.

The fuel economy of light motor vehicles (≤7.5 tonnes), medium motor vehicles (> 7.5 tonnes to ≤12 tonnes), and heavy motor vehicles (>12 tonnes) is measured using a constant speed fuel consumption test (per IS:19921:1993). Light motor vehicles are tested at 50 km/h (31 mph); medium and heavy motor vehicles are tested at 40 km/h (25 mph) and 60 km/h (37 mph).

Neither the manufacturers nor the Pune-based vehicle certification center Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) had shared the specific results of those measurements on a per model basis, however.

In a 2007, the average fuel economy for gasoline passenger cars in India was 14.56 km/L (equivalent to 6.9 L/100km, or 34 mpg US), according to a presentation given by ARAI at a 2007 seminar on fuel economy standards in India. Average fuel economy for diesel passenger cars was 16.55 km/L (equivalent to 6.0 L/100km or 38.9 mpg US). Average CO₂ emissions were 161.6 g/km for gasoline cars and 152.89 g/km for diesels. (Measurements made for the BS-III emission standard.)

Concerned about the energy supply, air quality and climate change implications of the country’s growing vehicle parc (as well as a trend to larger and more powerful vehicles), the government of India is developing mandatory fuel-efficiency standards for all classes and types of vehicles, including cars, scooters, bikes, trucks, buses and three-wheelers as part of its 11^th Five-year plan (2007-2012). (Earlier post.)

In India, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) is the statutory authority that will implement the fuel economy standards. BEE appointed the Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA)—an autonomous research body under the Union ministry of petroleum and natural gas, and responsible for fuel conservation measures in different sectors—as the technical advisory body for setting these standards.

The 11^th Five-year plan (2007-2012) advocates a combination of polices—including tougher regulations, financial incentives, continued R&D, and consumer education and marketing—to ensure that the vehicles sold during the next few decades should be “Gas Sippers” rather than “Gas Guzzlers”.

The current fuel economy standards should be averaged for each category and may be increased by 8% per year during the XI Plan and 5% beyond the end of XI Plan. This way, the average fuel economy of all new cars, commercial vehicles and two wheelers would increase by about 45 percent by 2012. It also promulgates that the Vehicle manufacturers will protest and say “it can’t be done” or “it will cost a fortune,” but would comply as experience in the US indicates that when the original US CAFE standards were debated, the car manufacturers complied with the original standards at reasonable cost and with high consumer acceptance.

—PCRA background on Fuel Efficiency Standards and Labeling in India

Resources

• SIAM Fuel Economy Information Brochure

• Presentations from PCRA workshop on Fuel Efficiency Standards and Labeling of Vehicles in India (2007)

• Avert the great guzzle (draft position paper by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), Delhi)